Thank you for your reviews. Here is the second to last chapter. :)

Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

The days were slow, painful, and I hated every minute of it. Because his parents forced me and Rydel to be 'normal' teenagers, we were told to go to school and pretend everything was alright. I was okay with that at first, until everyone seemingly knew. And all eyes were back on me. It's like they finally understood the severity of Riker's condition now that he was hospitalized. Still, Rydel and I continued on our days, heading to class like zombies and spending our evenings at the hospital, homework all over Riker's room.

His condition improved for a while. With the medications and all he was doing, they were able to get a small increase in his breathing levels. That meant he was more alert, more like the Riker I knew and loved. And because of that, his parents left a few hours at a time, and I was alone with my boyfriend for the majority of it.

We talked, usually. There wasn't much else to do. We had movies from time to time, or played a card game, but those were literally just to pass the time. Everyone knew that being in here, sitting here every night was to pass enough time until he was better enough to come home.

He realized it before I did. I came into the hospital a few days before prom, annoyed because I'd run into Laura and she had looked at me like she wanted to apologize. Riker had a rough night the night before, and I was in no mood for it. It was like her entire being shifted in those seconds, from forgiving back to cold-hearted and she teased me, saying, "So who is your date now?"

But I'd pushed it from my mind.

Until he said it, at least. Prom was two nights away, after all. "I guess I won't be going to prom with you," he murmured sadly. "I'm so sorry."

I cringed at the thought, but then put on my brave face. "Don't worry about it. I didn't really want to go anyway."

He raised his eyebrows and that sent me into giggles. Yeah, I wanted to go. Alright. I had a dress and a plan, and it was all supposed to be perfect. I'd quickly learned in the last few weeks that life was far from that. So, I just sighed. "I don't want to go without you."

"Remy, you have to! It's your prom."

"Junior prom," I corrected. "There's always next year. Don't worry about it."

He shook his head vigorously. "I won't let you spend the night here when everyone else is at the party."

"You can't make me go."

He almost looked pissed, "You bet your ass I can! Remy, you can't just stop your own like because I'm in here. You paid a lot of money for those tickets. You and Rydel have been so excited about it; you're going. Please promise me that."

I heard how upset he was, and I didn't want to make him any worse, so I just nodded. The thought of going to prom alone made me sick to my stomach, but I had to at least humor him and maybe I could lie all together and tell him I went, when I didn't. Because, I wasn't going to prom without Riker. There was no point. "Fine, I'll go to prom."

The morning of prom, I woke up feeling like I should be excited. Riker wanted me to go, to enjoy what it meant to have a normal life as a teenager. Except, I traded in that life months ago; I was never going to be the 'normal' girl I was before. I knew Rydel felt it too. She showed up wordlessly at my house a few minutes later, holding her shoes and her dress, sadness in her eyes. Ellington came in seconds after her, his expression equally as depressed.

"I can't do this," she admitted. "I know how excited he was to go with you. I can't go to this dance when I know he's there all alone."

I cringed, nodding, "Me either. I want him there or I'm not going. He's going to be pissed though; I promised him I would go."

"It's not like he can really protest," Ellington commented, giving them a look.

I shook my head quickly, "If he finds out that we lied to him and didn't go, he'll get even more upset. I don't want anything to hinder him recovering in that hospital bed. We need to figure something else out."

I was glad that the three of us agreed that going to this dance was just not in the equation anymore. We sat together, sharing our morning until Ellington peered up, grinning ear to ear. Honestly, it was the most genuine smile I'd seen in weeks and a part of me finally felt better, if only for a second. I was eager to find out what he had to say, but Rydel beat me to it. "I like that smile: what's behind it?"

He pumped his fist, "How much money do you guys have on you right now?"

Between the three of us, we had just under one hundred dollars. I looked expectantly at Rydel's boyfriend for some kind of explanation, and then it was on the table.

"We don't have to go to the dance," he explained, still grinning. "But he doesn't not have to go either."

"What?" I was running on too little sleep to do the confusing sentences he was saying.

"We bring the prom to him," he said simply.

And then, I was grinning too. For those moments, nothing seemed more right. I had Rydel call her parents, who spoke to the hospital staff and they asked if we could throw a little 'party' in the children's ward. They were weary at first, wondering how good it could be for anyone, especially Riker, to have that kind of excitement around him. I think it was actually Mark who mentioned to his doctor that it was probably the best thing for his recovery. While I knew that Riker wanted us to go without him, he was probably still crushed that he was stuck in bed. So, by what Mark was saying, we were not only raising his spirits, but hopefully his recovery too.

"So how does this work?" I asked as we got the final okay. I couldn't stop shaking, but in a good way. He had no idea what was coming at him.

"We go to the party store, get supplies and food," he explained. "We'll have to get Rydel's parents to put out the decorations, but everything else is totally doable. You girls go to your hair and make up appointments, and I'll worry about the rest of it. We'll meet back here at four like originally planned and it'll all be set. Like I said, don't worry at all. I'll be taken care of. This will be the best prom ever."

For some reason, I believed Ellington.

So, we headed to the appointments we made months ago. And for the first time in a while, I felt like a girl again. Getting my nails done and my hair put up… it felt normal. I wasn't normal anymore, but in terms of that, it wasn't something that was leaving me completely gutted and exhausted, unlike the majority of my time in the last few weeks. Even Rydel relaxed and goofed off with me, as we took selfies and videos, documenting it all so that Riker could feel included. It was girl time; it was perfect.

By the time we headed back to my house, it was almost four. We still had to change into our dresses and do last minute touches on our hair and make up. I could tell Rydel was getting nervous at this point, and I was a little myself. I didn't know what to expect when we got to the hospital, what Ellington's idea of decorations were. He seemed pretty pleased with himself that morning and I knew we were in capable hands… but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it perfect. Riker had done so much for me in the last few months that I wanted to do something for him.

Ellington came in a couple seconds later and could not hide his jaw dropping at the sight of Rydel. I snapped a few pictures thankfully, and then giggled. "She's beautiful, right?"

"You're kidding, right?" he asked. "She's perfect."

"Oh, stop," she laughed. "I'm not perfect. But thank you."

He kissed her hard on the lips, and I busied myself for a few minutes so they could have alone time. A part of me was a little jealous, but knew that my time was coming. I couldn't wait to see the look on Riker's face when he was made aware of what was going on. He was probably already wondering why his parents were whispering or why the nurses had secret smiles on their faces. It would probably drive him nuts because while I loved him dearly, he was not someone who would figure it out on his own.

"Ready to go?"

I turned on my heel—pink and sparkly—smiling at the girl who had quickly become one of my best friends. She had tears in her eyes and I did in mine also, and we just laughed. "When we look back at this, it's going to be worth every moment," I told her seriously.

She nodded, "I know."

I hooked her arm in mine, and together we strolled off to our limo—okay, so we didn't have one of those. But my car was just as nice, thank you very much.

At the hospital, we looked very out of place. I mean, we were practically in gowns, and resembled something out of a magazine, so people stared. We giggled along with the attention, much like Ellington bowing at anyone who stared at his tux, and we marched over to the elevators, knowing it was do or die time.

"Is everything ready?" I asked Ellington.

"Yes," he told me. "They set it up in one of the empty rooms and in the rec area for patients. Mark sent me a few pictures; from what I can tell, it looks awesome."

"You have Mark's number?"

He shrugged, "Yeah."

I had to laugh. "Alright. Let's do this."

We strolled into the children's floor, still earning gazes from the majority of people. Most of the nurses knew the story and smiled at us as we passed, and I paused in front of his door, hearing his parents talking to Riker. I grinned at my friends, telling them to stay outside until I said otherwise, and then strolled in. Considering it was well past six and I was supposed to be at the prom already, he was more than shocked to see me.

"What are you doing here?" he gasped.

I noticed he looked a little better: some color to his face, not as dark circles under his eyes. A little more like the Riker I was used to.

"Taking you to prom, dork," I grinned. "Are you ready?"

He looked down at his gown as if it should have been a tux and I had to snort.

"Come in guys," I called, and in strolled Rydel and Ellington. That time, his eyes welled with tears.

"What are you guys doing? You're supposed to be at prom."

I grinned a second time, "Didn't you hear, Riker? Prom got moved here."

I was more surprised to find out that Ellington brought his tux, and the doctors gave the okay for him to wear it if he so pleased. And being my boyfriend, he of course couldn't be the only one wearing a hospital gown because hello, he was at prom. Miami General Prom, all the rage.

So, by the time he was in his, he looked a little worn down. I came up beside of him with my phone and turned it so that the camera was facing us. "Picture time," I explained and without a second thought, started snapping selfies left and right. He joined in, posing and laughing; a familiar and welcome change to how we'd been spending the last few days. We also had his parents take a few shots of the both of us and then they disappeared.

"Come on," I urged, helping him up. "We have to get to the party—we're going to be late!"

We jogged down the hallway of the floor, earning stares from patients and adults alike. Ellington was waiting at the door of the rec area and room, his eyes gleaming with mischief, and I knew, back when I first met him I was going to like him, only now I hadn't realized just how much. He greeted us like an usher, telling us to come in. And boy, was I in for a surprise when I walked into the door. The room was actually decorated really well.

Little plastic glow in the dark stars were stuck around the ceiling and walls, glitter balls that had some sort of light in them hung from the ceiling. Streamers hung from every crevice. A small and old fashioned boom box was in the corner, playing music that filled the whole room. The far corner had a table set up in it, filled with snack foods and drinks… it was all so well done and thought out, I couldn't believe we'd only had the thought that morning. Sure, it was probably not as nice as the prom the school threw, but we were doing damn well for ourselves. I was absolutely in awe.

"You guys did this?"

I nodded, "Well, it was mostly Ell. He's kind of amazing."

"Thanks!" he quipped from the door, swooping his girlfriend under his arm. "Actually, I only told them what to get. You can thank your parents and the staff here for actually making it work. Maybe they're not so old after all."

The four of us laughed, "No," Riker murmured. "They're pretty cool."

"So, what actually happens at a prom?" I murmured. "I've read about plenty, but I always thought that was just the books. Is it literally just us dancing around and staring at each other for a few hours? Or are we one of those stories where I steal someone's boyfriend or wore the same dress as the popular girl? Should I start a fight? Should I spill a drink down my dress? How does this work?"

He silenced me with his finger, "I think you read one too many books, Remy."

I blushed, "Maybe."

"To answer your question," he added, "I don't know. This is my first dance."

"You've never been to any dance before?"

"Well… I mean, a couple ones… but nothing like this. I guess we're both newbies."

I giggled, "Make it our own, then?"

"Have we ever done anything else?"

So, for a while, we just sat down on one of the beds and ate for a bit. Rydel and Ellington disappeared a couple of times to come back with flushed faces. I giggled through the majority of this, just enjoying the company of my friends and my boyfriend. I wasn't dumb; I also wasn't a complete fool. I would still have loved to be at my actual prom with the three of them, but sometimes life just didn't allow that. This… this though, would be special. It would be something I could share for ages and have the memory that others did not. A small group came together in a time of trying and made something out of nothing.

In my books, those were the stories I loved the most.

I leaned my head against his shoulder, "I love you, you know."

"I know you do. I love you more," he whispered.

I smiled at him, "I could argue that."

So, we argued for just as long, and then it turned into kissing. It wasn't supposed to happen and the adults would have been pissed and if I was actually paying attention, I would have never tried kissing him myself. But sometimes rules were meant to be broken. I learned that from a book or two, too.

"I think we're supposed to dance or something," he murmured finally.

As if on cue, the music started to play. Thanks, Ellington. He walked back over, grabbing Rydel's hand, and then I stood with Riker. It was a song that I'd never heard before, but the lead singer had a powerful voice, and it had me swaying back and forth in no time, my arms wrapped around his neck, his arms around my waist.

Just how it should be.

Our own little version of perfect.

Stay with me, tonight. I want you to stay with me, tonight.